1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to robotic technologies, and particularly, to a backlash adjustment mechanism and an industrial robot utilizing the backlash adjustment mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
A commonly used industrial robot includes a plurality of arms connected in series. An actuator, such as a welding device, a gripper or a cutting tool, is mounted at a distal arm of the industrial robot to execute specific tasks. Generally six axes are utilized to achieve maximum movement of the actuator. Each arm of the industrial robot rotates around a rotation axis driven by a driving unit. Typically, the driving unit includes a motor mounted on one arm and a gear transmission mechanism coupled to the motor to transmit the movement of the motor to another arm.
The working range and capacity for movement of an industrial robot depend on, among other things, the gear transmission mechanism included. An additional factor influenced by the gear transmission mechanism is the performance of the industrial robot with respect to precision and/or accuracy. As backlash between meshed gears in the gear transmission mechanism is increased, the life and precision of the gear transmission mechanism are deteriorated by aggravated abrasion and oscillation caused by the deteriorated meshing condition. A commonly used method to decrease backlash is the employment of precision manufacturing and assembly, thus increasing cost.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.